The EU accelerates moves towards an EU army

The EU is now accelerating its moves towards an EU Army, building on the European Commission’s Reflection Paper on the Future of European Defence.Speaking
in the European Parliament today, UK Conservative Defence Spokesman, Geoffrey Van Orden MEP, commented:

“Mrs Mogherini, the putative EU Foreign & Defence Minister, talks as if we are all starting from scratch on defence and it’s now all up to the
EU. While her colleagues deny the ambition for an EU Army, she talks as if it already exists, referring to the activities of “men and women in
EU uniform under the EU flag.

“The latest justification for EU defence relates to what the Commission describes as the wasteful different types of aircraft and battle tanks in service
across Europe compared with the efficiency of the United States.

“In its reflection paper, the Commission claims the US has just one type of battle tank while there are 17 across Europe. In fact, there are really
just two. It says there are 6 US fighter aircraft while the Europeans have 20 different types. Actually, there are predominantly 4.

“Instead of supporting the Commission in its bogus statistics the European nations should put their efforts into rejuvenating their armed forces and
revitalising NATO. They should give priority to interoperability between all the NATO nations - the US and its European allies - and ensuring that,
post-Brexit, the UK continues to have its reliable and common-sense voice at all the defence and security tables in Brussels."